1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), and information content delivery services/providers. More particularly, it relates to Wireless Telecommunication, ANSI-41D Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN) applications, and SMTP protocol to manage information content for a wireless carrier.
2. Background of Related Art
There are many “wireless” information content providers in the industry who have some information or service that is considered of value to the mobile phone user. Wireless Carriers are typically in favor of these content providers as they add value to Short Messaging Systems (SMS) and can drive up SMS and voice usage.
Unfortunately, content providers may not fully understand a particular wireless network and/or may not be fully sensitized to particular needs of carriers. This is because the carrier is often seen simply as a ‘pipe’ through which wireless messages are sent using SMTP protocol. Content providers maintain their own subscriber lists, and typically communicate with carriers merely as e-mail hosts.
All traffic is typically sent through an SMTP gateway, and thus information content, ads, etc., cannot be differentiated from higher priority ‘personal’ content. Problems arising from this include:                Bulk information content can slow down and even jeopardize the carrier's SMTP Gateway performance;        Personal messages cannot be given a higher priority than bulk messages;        Bulk info content receives the same messaging parameters as personal messages, e.g., delivery receipts enabled, expiration date of 3-5 days, etc.;        The carrier cannot differentiate between bulk messages among various providers and personal mail for billing purposes;        Bulk senders deliver their content regardless of whether the device is on, and thus the carrier must handle message storage and retry attempts; and        Bulk senders will typically continue to deliver content to churned wireless subscribers, wasting network resources and interfering with reuse of mobile numbers.        
There is a need for a technique using SMTP and/or other conventional protocols to enable an easy way for content providers to distribute and/or differentiate their information without requiring them to change technologies.